from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – SOME 87 individuals comprising Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) militants and their families have reportedly surrendered to the Nigeria military.
These comprised 19 male fighters, 19 adult females and 49 children.
It is believed they were hibernating around the fringes of Sambisa forest in Borno State, towards the border with Cameroon.
This followed artillery and air bombardments under the Forward Operational Base (FOB).
“The terrorists lamented that the ground and condition in the forest have become untenable, hence their surrendering,” Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of the Nigerian Army Public Relations, said.
The suspects have surrendered assorted weapons.
Nwachukwu said the individuals were undergoing security profiling and preliminary investigations.
The children have been administered with oral polio vaccines.
Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff, has commended the troops for the sustained offensive and clearance operations.
He urged the Nigeria military to maintain the momentum of the operations aimed at completely silencing the insurgency.
Boko Haram, and its ISWAP splinter group, have been perpetrating attacks northeast of Nigeria and neighbouring countries since 2009, in an effort to create an Islamic State.
– CAJ News